Democratization and De-democratization at the Local Level

Challenges for Democratic Urban Governance in Regions and Municipalities

Abstract

The reflections contained in this dossier summarize a central question: what are the cleavages and phenomena of democratization and dedemocratization at the subnational level and how do they influence the national democratic trajectory? Our inquiry is based on the intersection of two essential research agendas in contemporary Political Science. On the one hand, the accelerated deterioration of liberal democracies (Castells, 2018; Levitsky and Ziblat, 2018; Przeworki, 2020); on the other, the interpretation of this process at the subnational level (Gibson, 2007; Gervasoni, 2010; Behrend, 2012). Within the framework of this dialogue, our central argument is that local and regional governments—such as municipalities, states, and regions—operate according to their own political logics that diverge from the national institutional pattern, developing oligarchic, patrimonialist, and authoritarian structures, even in democratic national contexts. This phenomenon not only strains the process of national democratization but also challenges the assumption of democratic homogeneity within national states, imposing the need for a closer analytical look at the local scales of politics.